You can make an attractive and functional tripod stool with a few dowels, a piece of leather or canvas, and a few hardware fittings—between $15-25 in total materials depending on the quality of the fittings and if you use leather.

DIY weblog Design Sponge gives complete instructions and step-by-step photos, but what you're basically doing is cutting the dowels to size, rounding the ends that come in contact with the floor, and drilling a hole to later add a screw to support the seat. Next you'll sand the dowels and apply a finish, stain, or paint. Fashion your seat out of cut leather or sewn canvas (a template for the exact size is at the source link below) and ensure the material is durable enough to hold your weight. Assemble the seat by threading two of the legs together with a bolt, leaving an eye-hole bolt in between. Attach washers to both ends and close off the bolt with an acorn nut. Feed the eye-hole bolt through the hole in the third dowel and attach a washer and an acorn nut to the end. Finally, attach the seat the the dowels by screwing a wood screw through a large finishing washer into the dowel.

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You can optionally modify the seat to include a carry strap so you can sling it over your shoulder and/or a closure strap to keep the legs popping open while in transit.